Paul Bertorelli Explains Control Towers

Good overview of what control towers provide and what they don’t provide. Just like in Gryder’s incorrect assumption of the tower’s responsibility for separation at APA, a lot of pilots assume separation is being provided if they have radar.

Should be stressed though that this is a basic overview and he’s referring to Class Ds (VFR) only. If it’s a facility (B,C) where the local controller is also qual’d on approach, or they’ve completed a basic radar course on the use of the DBRITE, they can perform the same functions as TRACON. Primary function though is to scan their runways and control their VFR traffic pattern.
 
Velocity173 said:
Good overview of what control towers provide and what they don’t provide. Just like in Gryder’s incorrect assumption of the tower’s responsibility for separation at APA, a lot of pilots assume separation is being provided if they have radar.

Should be stressed though that this is a basic overview and he’s referring to Class Ds (VFR) only. If it’s a facility (B,C) where the local controller is also qual’d on approach, or they’ve completed a basic radar course on the use of the DBRITE, they can perform the same functions as TRACON. Primary function though is to scan their runways and control their VFR traffic pattern.
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I also thought he did a real good job of explaining it. He did qualify it as being about D’s more than once. Began and ended with it as I recall
 
Best way to learn is to visit if you can arrange it. Some of my best ATC experiences have been when plugged in with an ARTCC or a TRACON controller. Chess and rugby. Towers are fun too, but a busy Bravo tower really can't accommodate tourists hanging around.
 
Eggcellent!!! this needs to be drilled into every CFI. There is way too much "perceived" comfort level with a towered airfield. The mid-air at my home field proves it.

I have a friend who survived a mid-air.....while being worked by ATC doing practice approaches in the Warrenton area. Both aircraft (PA-28 and Bonanza) had very senior experienced pilots each with thousands of hours (senior FAA accident investigator in the PA-28 and chief medical AME from the NTSB with lead CFI in the Bo).....the Bo flew under the PA-28 and got its tail cut off.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Eggcellent!!! this needs to be drilled into every CFI. There is way too much "perceived" comfort level with a towered airfield. The mid-air at my home field proves it.

I have a friend who survived a mid-air.....while being worked by ATC doing practice approaches in the Warrenton area. Both aircraft (PA-28 and Bonanza) had very senior experienced pilots each with thousands of hours (senior FAA accident investigator in the PA-28 and chief medical AME from the NTSB with lead CFI in the Bo).....the Bo flew under the PA-28 and got its tail cut off.
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That would be the one where the Investigation was done by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. Conflict of interest and all that. It's probably here somewhere https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/index.html
 
Ahyep. Tower at one airport cleared me to land on 32. As I was on short final, they cleared a flight school plane to take off on 14. Ah, tower, did you cancel my landing clearance?
 
Was with a friend departing class D. Was number two behind a Cherokee ... when we were given our take-off clearance. Controllers are people too, which gives all the more reason to be looking out the window ... :smilewinkgrin:
 
Daleandee said:
Was with a friend departing class D. Was number two behind a Cherokee ... when we were given our take-off clearance. Controllers are people too, which gives all the more reason to be looking out the window ... :smilewinkgrin:
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Your situation could very well have been legal. @wsuffa though...not so much.
 
Paul's videos are great, and this one is a good reminder.

This accident case study from ASI is another important lesson:

I know many would get on the Cirrus pilot for violating basic aircraft control principles, but if I got twisted and turned that many times by ATC I'd probably get pretty task saturated as well.
 
wsuffa said:
Ahyep. Tower at one airport cleared me to land on 32. As I was on short final, they cleared a flight school plane to take off on 14. Ah, tower, did you cancel my landing clearance?
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We had a KC-135 (Boeing 707) miss the turn onto a taxiway. Ground people spent 30 minutes removing barriers so he could make the 180 turn to go back to the taxiway.

I can match every bonehead controller story to a bonehead pilot story.;)
 
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Timbeck2 said:
We had a KC-135 (Boeing 737) miss the turn onto a taxiway. Ground people spent 30 minutes removing barriers so he could make the 180 turn to go back to the taxiway.

I can match every bonehead controller story to a bonehead pilot story.;)
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I seen to recall that a KC-135 is a derivative of the 707, not the 737. ;)

My point was not to admonish the bonehead controller, but rather to point out that a pilot still needs to be a lert even under tower control. I did speak up and the controller fixed it immediately - but given that the flight school plane was from one of the foreign-student pilot mills, there was still risk involved. I was still in a position to go around if needed.
 
I swear I typed 707. Believe me, I know the difference- I’m blaming it on autocorrect

and I didn’t mean my response to defend bonehead controllers. We’re good. (meaning you and I) I was just making a point which wasn’t easily interpreted in written words.
 
samiamPA said:
Paul's videos are great, and this one is a good reminder.

This accident case study from ASI is another important lesson:

I know many would get on the Cirrus pilot for violating basic aircraft control principles, but if I got twisted and turned that many times by ATC I'd probably get pretty task saturated as well.
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The pilot initiated the sequence of events when deciding to fly illegally with an expired flight review, attempting a flight beyond their own skill level, and getting lost on the first lap around the traffic pattern.
 
Groundpounder said:
The KC-135 is not a 707.
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Correct. If anything, the 707 is a derivative of the KC-135/Boeing 717. (Yes, there was a B-717 before the MD-80 variant after MD was sold to Boeing. The KC-135/Boeing 717 had a fuselage that was oval in cross section, the 707 fuse cross section was round.)
 
Actually it is a derivative of the 367-80

but let’s not pick bits I’m talking about the dang 4 engined tanker the USAF uses. The one this morning had occupants controlling it that missed the big yellow and black sign depicting Taxiway alpha 2.
 
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Skip Miller said:
Correct. If anything, the 707 is a derivative of the KC-135/Boeing 717. (Yes, there was a B-717 before the MD-80 variant after MD was sold to Boeing. The KC-135/Boeing 717 had a fuselage that was oval in cross section, the 707 fuse cross section was round.)
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Exactly.
 
Timbeck2 said:
We had a KC-135 (Boeing 707) miss the turn onto a taxiway. Ground people spent 30 minutes removing barriers so he could make the 180 turn to go back to the taxiway.

I can match every bonehead controller story to a bonehead pilot story.;)
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I could match two boneheaded pilot stories for every one boneheaded controller story. ;)
 
This thread reminds me of a piece from my Dad's August, 1948 Air Trails magazine. Posting here for your reading pleasure...

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samiamPA said:
Paul's videos are great, and this one is a good reminder.

This accident case study from ASI is another important lesson:

I know many would get on the Cirrus pilot for violating basic aircraft control principles, but if I got twisted and turned that many times by ATC I'd probably get pretty task saturated as well.[/QUOTE
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I found this video hard to watch, and had to go back to it a couple of times to see it all. Like most accident chains there are multiple parties involved and plenty of opportunities to deescalate the accident chain that were not taken. I can't speak for ATC but it seemed unusual to me to change landing runways and clearances as often as it was done. Also I feel the pilot should have been able to lose altitude faster when the situation called for it. A Cirrus isn't really a short field aircraft, but I believe regular practice at a short field (3x ground roll) leads to better airmanship in the long run.
I am not perfect by any means and I make my share of mistakes, but I try to learn from each one and do better the next time.

I am truly sorry that this pilot is no longer with us to learn more.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I found this video hard to watch, and had to go back to it a couple of times to see it all.
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I seen this sometime back and it can haunt you for a long time ... hearing her voice and trying hard to follow every instruction given. I hope the next time I watch the video that the pilot calls the tower and tells them she's going somewhere else to sort this out and come back later.

In reality I know that can't happen ... :(
 
NoHeat said:
It would be an nteresting problem today, parking between two rows of P-51s.

Just curious, what is a blue Zipper?
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Yeah, in 1948, I imagine P-51s were more numerous than now. No idea at all what a Zipper is!

I remember going through my Dad's old mags when I was a kid and reading this article. Made an impression on me, and convinced me that being a P-51 pilot would be a much better job than working in a control tower.
 
Daleandee said:
They only problem would have been passing the Cherokee in the grass to get to the runway ... o_O
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not if he gave it to a tail wheel guy! We wudda spun the tail and taxied around the guy in the grass with a grin :)
 
dmspilot said:
The pilot initiated the sequence of events when deciding to fly illegally with an expired flight review, attempting a flight beyond their own skill level, and getting lost on the first lap around the traffic pattern.
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Good point. I had not realized that she was outside her review.

Lesson for all of us about currency and proficiency there. I am adding this to my list of incidents to illustrate the importance of these to students.
 
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